Postliminium
by Zeref Alemer
Summary: Being forced to come to a foreign world, Eric tries to find a way back home. However, the road home is not a easy path to walk, especially when you don't even know where to start. Or even if he will have the right to it.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Minecraft is owned by Markus "Notch" Persson and the company Mojang. Character physical descriptions of certain characters are based off of AT2's artwork and Mob Talker mod for the game.

Prologue: No longer here

I don't know about you folks, but if there is nothing else for me to do and I don't have anything to do the next morning, I like to go walking around during the evenings.

My name is Eric Hunter, and what can I really tell you. I'm a 20 year old white male. I have a bit of a tan on my body but it's nothing that really stands out. I have short dirt blonde hair, a pair of dark blue eyes and, I'm about 5' 11". I am a tad obese due to not working out much, but I still consider myself to be in good health.

During this time of year, I don't go walking around in too much clothing. So for this outing, I decided to wear a red t-shirt, a pair of light tan cargo pants, and a pair of white cross-trainers. No reason to overcomplicate my apparel. Still, took a few essentials with me; my wallet, cell phone, iPod, flashlight, and pocket knife that I won while working for a sales company. (Can't be too careful at night).

It was a warm summer evening in early July. The sun had long set hours ago and the air had cooled down to a warm temperature. Not too dry or humid, but just the perfect combination in-between the two. Even if you can't see all the stars from Redwood City suburbs, the serenity of the night was still something to behold. Especially when traffic from the vehicles has quieted down, adding a sense of tranquility around me as I wander the streets.

During my stroll, I came across one of the parks I used to play around when I was a kid. There've been plenty of changes to it since I last came but the layout was mostly the same. On one side of the park was a swing set, play structure, benches, public bathrooms, a few light posts, and one of those button activated water geysers for the kids play in on those hot summer days. On the other side was a lush grass field with the some redwood trees in a row along the side. Back then, it was a pretty fun place to go. I decided to take a moment and rest for a bit on one of the benches. Thankfully they replaced the wooden ones with metal. The old ones could give you splinters.

As I sat there, I just let nostalgia flow through me. Reminding me of all the friends who I used to play with there. Running around, playing games with old childhood friends, as if nothing could ever go wrong. Back then, I was a pretty carefree kid.

That's was before I took a rather nasty slip off the old swing set. I landed in the grass on the other side of the pathway close to the swings and thankfully it got away with only head wound over my left eye. The damage could have been a lot worse, especially if I had hit the concrete pathway. It had been one of the scariest moments in my life. Worst case scenario, I wouldn't have been around anymore. Instead, I was rushed to hospital and thankfully spared the grim fate, leaving a large facial scar across my forehead.

As the memory faded, I found that I was subconsciously rubbing my old scar. Putting my hand down, I looked back over where the old swing set used to be, only to see a smaller variant in its place.

"_Thank goodness,"_ I thought. "_At least no other kid has to take a fall like that; at least from here."_

Then I remembered the real reason why I was taking this walk. I was trying to keep my mind off of last semester. I had failed two of the courses that were required for my major and it had hurt my GPA. Because of this, I'm on academic probation and had to bring my GPA up by next semester. While that wasn't going to be hard, last semester did show that I needed to choose a different subject to focus on. I also need to figure that out before sign-ups could happen.

"_Damn it, I came out here to relax, not focus on the past or current."_ I thought to myself.

Cursing myself a little, I pulled out my iPod and decided to play "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers. Even though I know the song's meaning, it always seemed to remind me of a few things. My grandparents for one; New Vegas for another. The former because this was one of their favorite songs that they used to play on their jukebox; the latter because it really should have been in the game.

Figuring that I had rested enough and the sense of nostalgia gone, I got up and started to make my way past the public restroom. Probably would've passed a completely if something had not caught my eye.

There had been movement back there. Even if the light from the lamp posts was blocked, there was still enough light to make out the faint silhouette of something. No… someone.

First thought was that someone had been locked out of the public bathroom and decided to take care of their business there, so I started to continue my walk onwards. After a few steps though, a thought struck me.

"_Wait a second. The public restrooms here don't have locks on them. Only the stalls do."_

Second thought that came to mind was that maybe that was their meeting place for some lovers tryst. The thought was dismissed as well. Why risk having sex out in a visible location when there of building right there for them to use? Granted, their moans would reveal themselves out to any bystander, but it would still make it less visible.

I looked back to see if the figure was still there, only to see that the silhouette had vanished. Even though it was visually, whoever it was, still felt as though they were still around.

I put away my ear buds and started to make my way over to the field. If someone was going to follow me, I needed all of senses to be aware and at least I would have a line of sight on them. I glanced over my shoulder back towards the restroom.

Someone did emerge from the other side behind the building. At least with the light out, I could make out that the person was male and was wearing a cyan shirt and blue jeans. He was about 5' 10" and looked like he had a muscular physique to him. He was wearing sunglasses, odd choice at night. However, it didn't seem like he was walking this way.

I breathed a little sigh of relief and faced forward, walking out into the field. After about a minute passed, I finally chuckled a bit at my own paranoia. _"At least that wasn't going to be a problem."_

"_Wrong…"_ Something in the back of my mind said, creating pulse in my head.

I stopped. I had never heard this voice in my head before. Not in the imaginings, not in any form of media, not anywhere. This voice had low tone to it, but it was devoid of any emotion. And even though it was just one word, it echoed through my head. I looked back over my shoulder once more.

The man had stopped completely in his place underneath one of the lamp posts. Standing there, just like any other person would in any situation. But his eyes were on me.

Suddenly, the lampposts in the area in both the park and the streets burst and the area were plunged into darkness.

"_Run…"_ voice echoed. I took its advice.

I started running towards the other side of the field. Whatever this was, I wasn't planning on sticking around to see what this person would do. I looked back to see if I can make out what he was doing, if only his silhouette.

He had moved, but he wasn't running towards me. Hell, he wasn't even walking! But he was closer.

"_Shit"_ was the only thing that my mind could think of as I resumed looking forward. No one could move that fast and then remain so still! I mean I was out of shape, but there's no way someone can move from point A to point B without staying in motion. It was preposterous! I look back over my shoulder.

The man's silhouette was even closer now. And it was still in the same position. How with this even possible?! No human alive should be this fast!

As I got towards the end of the field near the redwoods, I looked over my shoulder once more. The silhouette was about 5 yards away from me. This person… no, this… thing wasn't human. It couldn't be. And whatever it was, wanted him to run. IT wanted a chase.

"_SHIT!"_ My mind was racing. What could I do!? This, this, this… THING was about to catch up with me. It wanted a chase. It wanted the thrill of it. How was I going to be able to defend myself against with just a flashlig…

"_The knife"_ I thought. I at least did have something that can keep this creature away from me. If we would do any good that is in. Please let it do something.

By the time I cleared the redwood trees, I had pulled out the knife in my right-hand and had extended it. Whatever this manifestation wanted with me, it wouldn't get up without a fight!

As I started to cross the street, I spun around, knife in one hand, flashlight in the other. I readied myself in a self-defense stance to meet my "would-be attacker"…

…

…

…

…

…

… Only to be met with nothing.

I stared out into the darkness for what felt like hours, panting all the while. Nothing was coming out of the park. Nothing visually and the only sound that came out was the wind. As I stood there waiting for whenever it was to come out, my mind was constantly wondered what the hell was it. Or better yet, what I could do when it finally came out.

After a good chunk of time passed, common sense finally returned to me and I decided to get out of the street. I looked behind myself to make sure that I wouldn't stumble into something as I walked backwards.

"_Big mistake…"_

I didn't even get a chance to turn my head back around. Before I could even realize what was going on, I had been disarmed and thrown to the ground. I tried to get up, but the man pinned me with just one of his feet. Struggling did nothing to help. I did the only thing that I could then.

"Who are you? Wha… what is it that you want from me?!" the fear obvious in my shaken voice.

A grin formed on its face. The creature then knelt down to me.

"My name is Herobrine," the figure finally said with its own mouth. Its speech wasn't toneless anymore, but was almost… other worldly. The figure then pulled me up by the collar of my shirt, bringing my face closer to its own. "And what I want…"

It took off sunglasses with its other hand, his eyes closed.

"Well, that depends on what kind of person YOU are."

The man then opened his eyes. Out came a light that broke through the darkness. But this light, it was neither warm nor heated. Instead, looking into them was like looking into the void. As if just the act of staring into them was enough to make you become undone, unborn.

After what felt like an eternity, I lost consciousness.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Still Sane?

When I finally awoke, I noticed I was no longer on the street. My head was killing me.

"Where am I?"I finally muttered to myself. I couldn't tell where I was due to the darkness, but I could tell that I was no longer in my hometown. The only thing that was really visible was a lot of inconsistencies on the ground, some type of formations out on the horizon and the night sky above me.

This was kind of surreal, considering that the moon and the stars look like giant illuminated squares.

"Okay, keep it together Eric."

I could tell that I'm starting to lose it a little. Maybe… maybe this was a dream. My head throbbed again, as if saying that this was reality.

"Alright, so I'm not dreaming." Maybe hallucinating was the proper term.

"Okay, here's a thought. I'm going to sit down and calm myself down before I either panic or go into shock."

If one of those two things happened, I'm only going to make the situation worse for myself. I sat down and started to control my breathing. As I finally started to settle down, a few different thoughts went through my head.

First: What was missing on hand? I dumped out my pockets to see what I still had as I did a mental checklist to notice that I still had everything. Even the flashlight and knife that I had dropped were still on me which I thought was weird. Why would my would-be-attacker leave them for me?

Well, I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth for the moment, especially considering the circumstances. I pocketed everything but the flashlight for the time being.

Second: How am I going to survive in this place?

This was actually pretty easy. First objective would be to find a source of clean water. Without that, I'd be dead in a couple days. From there, the next best thing would be to find food and build or find shelter. Shelter would be the next important thing. Being able to protect the body from whatever elements there are in this place would be essential. As for food, it would take time to find it, if it was readily available. At least I have some extra fat to burn until I find some.

Third: Who the hell is this Herobrine? The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't remember where from. Then again, what could help define what I had seen? Whoever, or whatever, it was, it couldn't be mortal. Angel? No. No, couldn't be it. Angels aren't known for attacking people. A demon? A possibility but didn't make as much sense either. Most demons are known for possessing, rather than physical assault. Neither did God or the Devil. They would have been much more subtle.

"_Well, he did nab me alone."_ I thought. _"But neither one would've done a direct assault in such a fashion."_

It also didn't explain what kind of power it used on me. When I had looked into his eyes, I felt as though I had become the very essence of nothing. That would be a power that some god-like entity would process.

Then, a new possibility formed my head. What about an eldritch abomination? No, that wouldn't make sense either. If this Herobrine were one, I wouldn't be standing. Anyone who looks at an eldritch abomination's true form would've perished at the sight of it or wound up blind, being unable to comprehend its form. Or wound up insane; something I am still hoping I am not. That is also assuming that I had seen its true form.

I then came to the collusion that thinking about who this Herobrine is wasn't going to solve my current dilemma. By this point, my eyes had finally adjusted and I was able make out a little bit more of the landscape.

What I once thought was an uneven landscape had turned into a forest made of cubes and I was standing on top of one of the trees.

Wait. Cube foliage? That can support my weight?

Maybe I have lost it.

***Incoherent groans**

My thoughts were finally interrupted as I started to hear sounds coming from beneath me. Turning on the flashlight, I looked below to see what was making the noise.

Down below me stood a group of these humanoid cube people. Each one of them had their arms outstretched, wore tattered clothes, and had green skin.

"Excuse me," I called out to them "can you tell me where I am?"

Their only response was more moans and groans that I couldn't make out for the most part. What little I could make out that they were saying "brains."

"And now I'm dealing with zombies?" I said as I backed away from the edge, turning the flash light back off.

Yep, I finally lost it. At this point, I'm hoping that I am in a coma and was being properly treated somewhere.

Well, delusional or not, I'm not going to just simply roll over and die in a fictional place. I might as well live it to the best of my abilities.

As I started to scan the darkness again, I noticed something that finally caught my eye. It was faint but I could make out some form of light.

"How did I miss that before?"

Then again, I've been teetering between the lines of rationality and crazy for a while.

Regardless, if there was a light source penetrating the darkness, then there might be some form of sentient life that might be able to explain what the hell's going on. Sane or not, this is probably the best course of action for the moment.

I looked back towards the ground seeing that a few more of those creatures had gathered around below me.

"Well, here goes nothing." I turned the flashlight back on and started to make my way across the trees to where this light source was; taking whatever path and jumping every gap I could to avoid the ground.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Encounters

As I neared the edge of the forest, I noticed that the light source that I had been following did not lead to civilization as I had hoped, but a glowing red pool of lava. Couldn't tell if it was or wasn't, but the heat it gave off was enough to assume it was. And beyond that what I can only assume was a desert. Disappointed with the result, I turned off the flashlight and I sat down on one of the foliage cubes to rest my feat. Still wondered where I was but at least I wasn't down on the ground with the zombies. Quite a few had broken off from the group, but there were still enough to make me thankful I was up in the tree.

_***brraaaaains**_

"At least I don't have to worry about them." Thank goodness zombies can't climb. Well, these ones couldn't. I was still going to have to do something about that when I did finally get down, but one step at a time.

I scanned the horizon, to see if there was anything else of interest. Besides what looked like sand blocks, sand blocks, and more sand blocks, I was able to spot another light source coming from what I can only assume is west. Unlike the one I was currently standing near, this one looked like a tower coming out of the ground with light emitting around it.

"_Well, at least it isn't another lava pool."_

At the same time I noticed what would also be in my path. I recognized zombies out there, but it appeared as though were other creatures as well. One of them looked like a skeleton. While it too looked like it was made of cubes, there was a difference between them and the zombie. They seem more militarized, each one having a bow in their hands and quivers over their shoulder. Also, there was no muscle on them.

"_So magic must exist on this 'world', I suppose."_ It may not be actual magic, but it was better to put it under this category than wonder how the hell that was possible for a bunch of bones becoming animate on their own accord.

Another creature that was noticeable was these blocky black spiders. They had 4 glowing red squares for what I could only guess were eyes, and there legs were made of long black rectangles. Normally, I have no problems with spiders (except when one of my overly fearful friends is around). But these ones were huge in comparison. They made the Giant Huntsman Spider look like a laughing stock.

The last of the creatures that I could notice was a something that I have never seen before and had nothing to compare it to. It was some sort of green looking creature that stood on 4 small legs, almost as tall as me. Its texture reminded me of the plants back home. No claws, arms, or hands, but it had this rather sad frown across its face, almost as if it were in a state of depression. Maybe some sort of insectiod or plant creature?

I noticed that one creatures was close to where I was, unaware of my presence.

"Excuse me." I called out to the green creature it as I stood up. It looked around, trying to find the voice's origin.

"Up here, in the tree." I called out, trying to clarify to it. It then looked at me and started to make its way over.

"_So it can understand me. Maybe it can help me out."_ I thought as it came closer.

"Sorry to bug you, but do you know where I am?" I called to it, crouching down. It seemed to ignore me and headed for the group of zombies at the base of the tree.

"Umm… What are you…" was all I could say out when the creature let out a large hissing noise and began to flash white.

I don't know what part of me told my body to get away from the edge of the cube tree, but as I did so, the creature exploded, destroying the base of the tree. The rest of the tree then came crashing down to the ground around with me following in tow.

I landed on top of the remaining foliage of the downed tree. Thankfully nothing broke from the fall, but I was going to have a few bruises.

"_Mental note_,_ stay away to the green things. They are bad for my health."_ I thought as I got back up and stared to limp away from the downed tree. _"That or maybe they really hate zombies."_

_***moans**_

"_Oh crap."_ I'm on the ground with those zombies now.

I looked to see where the moaning came from. Two of the zombies had survived the explosion. One of them was still disoriented while the other had recovered and was coming toward me.

"_Maybe I could lose them in the forest. _ _No, I might get caught off guard by some other monster while trying to out run these ones. Into the desert? Just as bad. I could be targeted by one of the creatures as well, especially the skeletons. Plus my stamina would run out when I would need to out run one of them."_

Instead, I ran to the other side of the lava pool and hoped that they were just the stereotypical zombie that only thought about their need to consume. Thankfully, it was and fell in, letting out a few pained cries of agony before finally disappearing completely. The second one had gotten up by this point and had moved toward me, but the result was the same.

With both zombies destroyed, I took started to search around me to see if anything had been attracted to the explosion that had happened.

No movement came from the forest and the creatures out in the desert either didn't hear it or simply didn't care. Maybe because the fact that I was still far off that made them think that it wasn't their problem.

I sat down, taking a breather from what had transpired, putting my back toward the lava. Thankfully, the sun was starting to rise by this point. I know that it sunrises back home were fun to look at when you just woke up, but it felt like there was more to it than that. I suppose that I took some comfort that despite the cubes, blocks and monster, that this world had something in common with my own, even if this place could just an illusion in my own head.

Cubes, zombies, skeletons, giant spiders, explosive suicide creatures, and this Herobrine.

"_Shit, what else could happen in this 'world'?"_

"HEY, FATASS!" I heard someone yell behind me.

I turned around to a sight that I could hardly believe.

**Thanks for reading. I hope I can get the next one out sooner than later this time.**


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:The First Sentient

I still couldn't believe what I was seeing before me.

So far, the only thing that I have seen in this world is cubes. The landscape is made of it, the stars are made of them, and the moon is made of them.

Same thing goes for the creatures of this world.

Zombies? Cubes.

Skeletons? Cubes.

Spiders and those green things? CUBES!

The only thing that I haven't seen made of cubes was the thing that brought me to this world, and he… it hasn't shown up since I got here.

So why is it that before me stands a contradiction to everything that I have encountered up to now?

Hovering over the pool of lava stood before me looked more like something out of an anime. She appeared to be about 19-20 years old and looked about as tall as I am. The full body tan that she had complemented her hourglass figure quite nicely. Her golden blonde wavy hair went down to her hips with only on strand standing up on the top. There were also 2 yellow/brown hairpins on top, one over each eye.

She wore a smoky topaz bikini that seemed to be a little too tight, leaving almost nothing to the imagination, including her C-cup size.

The rest of her apparel, however, gave off a Mage Knight look to it. She wore 2 golden yellow gauntlets on her with a matching set of both greaves and footwear. She wore cloth the same color of her bikini underneath each piece of armor, I'm guessing to help prevent chafing. Around her floated 4 golden rods that seemed to move in a circular motion.

Physically, she had the body of an athlete, but not to the point of being overly muscular.

But what struck me most about her eyes. Her eyes were the same color as her hair, but they had a more translucent quality, almost like the embodiment of a fire.

To be honest, she was quite attractive.

"Hey dumbass, you got exactly 30 seconds to explain why the fuck you woke me up!" she said in a rather aggressive tomboyish voice.

Maybe an attractive demon instead.

"What do you mean woke you up?" I responded. I didn't recall seeing a house or a structure on the way over.

"You know exactly what I mean, you fatass Outsider," she said a little more aggressively as she hovered closer to me. "It's was middle of the night and trying to sleep, minding my own business. Then out of fucking nowhere, I hear an explosion overhead. Next thing I know, dumbass zombies start dropping into my home without warning."

Wait, so she lives in the lava. I don't know whether to call that scary as hell or awesomely badass.

"Sorry, I don't know that someone could live in lava. I only just arrived here." I started to explain.

"And I'm the queen bitch of the Nether," she said sarcastically. **[1]**

"I'm being serious. I was out for a stroll when some… thing attacked me."

"Care to elaborate on your vagueness, jackass?" she stared as she started to circle around me, as if observing me. I paused.

To be honest, I wasn't sure that she would believe my story if I told her about this Herobrine. If it wasn't part of this world, then she might think that I was just as delusional as I think I am. Or started laughing her ass off.

"Not really, I didn't get a good look at my attacker. Next thing I knew, I was on top of one of those blocky trees."

"Right," she responded in an incredulous tone, still circling around me. "Now, how about you answer my question before I set you on fire?"

Before I could respond, a small fireball came out from one of the rods whizzed past me. The action startled me enough to jump out of surprise and fall to the ground. It landed on the ground not too far from me causing it alight within just that one cube. Getting the message, I explained what happened.

"The explosion happened when I called out to one of those green creatures; the ones that walk on four legs and have a frown of their face."

"You mean Creepers," She asked as she stopped in front of me, landing on the ground.

"I guess so. I called out to one and it blew up the base of the tree I was standing on," pointing over to the treeless crater. To my surprise, the cube foliage had disappeared completely leaving what I could only guess was a few saplings and an apple.

She started to snicker. An inside joke of some sort? Or just laughing at my stupidity?

"Just to ask, why are they called that? Do they like to stalk other folks?" I asked.

She disregarded my question. "What about the zombies?"

"Well, a few survived the explosion when it happened, and were knocked away from the tree when it came crashing down. When they started after me again, I walked over to the other side of the po… I mean your home, and they fell in."

"I see." She said, as she finally finished her examination of me. I couldn't help but feel a little scared of what might come next. I found my hand slipping back into my pocket toward my pocket knife.

"Sounds like a good story. And it might even be truthful. However, your survival depends on this next question, Outsider." She said as she knelt down and positioned herself on top of me. She then clasped both of her hands around my face, positioning my head to look into hers, as if to ensure unwavering eye contact. Her rods surrounded around me, as if getting ready to set me ablaze.

Surprisingly, her direct contact didn't cause any discomfort. I would have thought so, considering that she lived in lava, but surprisingly it wasn't the case.

"Does the name Sandra Macero mean anything to you?" She asked in a straightforward.

I sat there, gazing into her eyes and she stared back into me.

"No, should I?" I replied back to her.

I don't know what she was looking for, but even if I couldn't read her face, her eyes showed some relief in them.

After a few moments, she finally cracked a smile.

"Wow, so your kind really is easy to figure the fuck out." She let go and started to make her way over to the crater.

She said as she finally got up and started to walk back. As much as it may have been insightful to learn who this person is, I had more pressing matters to figure out.

Wait a second.

"What the fuck do you mean 'our kind!?'" I yelled at her, not caring about the fire rods or trying to cover up my rage.

She didn't even bother to look back at me. "Yeah, your kind. You know, Outsiders."

"Well, how about you cut the racist comments and tell me about what the hell an Outsider is then." I continued to yell at her.

"Are you fucking stupid or somethi…" She started to say as she looked at me. However, she stopped when she noticed that I had been asking with a serious look on my face. Then her face changed, with a puzzled look on her face. "You really did just cross over, didn't you?" She asked questioningly.

"What the hell does that mean!?" I said still with

"Well, umm, it's the term that we, the life on this world, call those that have come from a different universe all together." She responded.

"And where the hell is that?!"

She then walked back over to me and asked "Do you want to know what you Outsi.., um, your people call it, or how we call it."

"How about the original name." I answered, letting some of the rage in my voice drop as she had tried to use a different wording instead. She paused for a moment.

Then when she told me, a small smile formed across her face.

"Then welcome to the world Sator's Somnium," She said.

**I know that it might be just a little too early to ask for this, but how is the story coming so far. I would like some feedback on it so I can make some improvements to the story if/when it needs it.**

**[1] Starcraft reference: What one of the main characters calls herself the queen bitch of the universe to her enemies after she becomes the supreme master of the zerg.**


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: A name to call and testing.

"Sator's Somnium, huh?" I asked, as I finally got back up.

"Yep, that's what most of us call it," she responded as she strolled back over. "And before you ask; no I don't know who named it. Don't know; Don't care."

"I see." It didn't sound like a place even on the same planet as my own. This place wasn't where I wanted to be.

"Listen, ma'am, but I was hoping…" I started as I got back up.

"What the fuck did you call me?" She appeared to be getting angry again.

"Huh?"

"Did you just call me 'Ma'am'? Do I look like some sort of hag?"

"Uh, well, I don't know your name or how to address you, and ma'am is a universal term." I stated

"Well, don't call me it. Do I look old?! I don't want you to use that word or any other form of it period," she demanded. I flinched.

"Ok, then how do I address you then?"

"Why bother?" She asked in more of an annoyed tone. "You're probably not going to last that long on this world."

"Well, it would be for conversation purposes only." She then rolled her eyes.

"Fine. You could call me… Blazette." Not her real name I take it. Or maybe it could be in this place. Still, it didn't sit right with me.

"How about I think of a different name?"

"Why not, it's a name, isn't it?"

"I don't know, sounds a lazy to call you that?"

"Eh?"

"Yeah well, it sounds like you took the word blaze and just added a 'tte' at the end of it. It just sounds like something someone came up with off of the top of their head."

"I suppose you have a point. Wait, did you just make fun my intelligence?" She said in a more aggressive tone.

"Err. No, I just think that some thought should go into a name is all." So her suggestion was made up.

"Ok smartass, how about you come up with something better?"

"Alright. How about… Ira?"

"Whatever."

"Well then Ira, I am Eric Hunter. It's a, uh, pleasure to meet you," I said as I offered a handshake.

She looked at my hand then back to me with an annoyed look on her face. "What, you expect me to kiss your hand. You're not even fucking royalty."

I took my hand back. Cultural boundary I guess.

"Never mind then. Ira, I am sorry about waking you up at such and early hour, but I'm just trying to find my way back home. Do you know where I could go to find some answers?"

"Nope, and fat chance you'll find a way out." She responded as she started to walk back to her pool.

"Wait. Before you go, I have a few more questions." She glared at me as the rods around her started to spin around her faster. She approached me.

"Don't fucking care. You woke me up during the early hours of the morning, you little shit head. And until I get my rest, YOU'RE problems are not even in the same Biome as mine. So until I get MY rest, YOU'RE just going to have to sit here and be quiet until then! GOT IT!"

I gulped in response. She seemed to notice this as well, as she tried to calm down.

"Sorry, sorry. I tend to be a bit bitchy when I don't get full rest."

"_A bit?"_

"Listen, if you come back later, maybe I'll be in a better mood to help you out. So until then, how about you do something that doesn't involve crashing my home again, k?"

"Sure ma… I mean Ira." I said catching myself.

She nodded and went back to the lava, submerging herself into it.

"_Damn, she was scary as hell._ _Can't tell if she's suffers from bipolar disorder or has multiple personalities instead."_

Still, this was a meeting with "someone" in this place. A "someone" that could help me understands what could be going on. At first this seemed like good luck to come across someone this quickly. I can't tell if this was extraordinary luck or if something else is helping me go in the right direction.

Still an event like this could still be my imagination.

I looked around to see if there were any other creatures around me. But the only thing that seemed to have changed was the sun had risen higher.

I got into a more comfortable sitting position as I continued to ponder the possibilities.

If Ira were a figment of my imagination, then this would mean my mind was attempting to make me feel more comfortable in accepting this reality. I mean seriously, a hot (possibly crazy) anime babe just happen to meet me while I'm stranded out in the middle of nowhere. And even with her rather revealing attire, she nailed the looks of a sexy pyromancer as well. Hell, my situation even started to look a lot like the first episode of a harem anime.

"_If that was the case, there was a 50% that this was the girl I would end up with her at the end."_

Joking aside, if my mind needed to conjure up this character when I haven't been here that long, then maybe I do need to belong in the loony bin. Or maybe I need to hang out with my friends more often... Or get a girlfriend.

However, if this place were a real plane of existence, then Ira would still have the information I need. She may not know how to get back but she is a resident of this world. Hence she would know where things like food and water would be in the region. Especially if she's out here and possible civilization was where that tower is.

I then remembered the crater that had formed previously. I got up and made my way to examine it. The besides the saplings and an apple, it looked like a few smaller cubes were floating above the ground.

"_Wait; there is gravity in this world. How the hell is it floating?"_

I went into the crater and examined the brown cube. It was indeed floating and it appeared to be a more condensed version of dirt. I would have disbelieved it at first, but then I remembered where I was. For all I know, 2+2 could equal fish in this place. I picked up one of the floating cubes, and as strange as it was, the cube felt almost weightless in my hand. After fooling around with the cube for a bit, there appeared to be nothing else weird about it. As I put the cube down however, it cubed expanded to a larger size then earlier.

"_What could have caused it to change back to its original size that fast?"_

I took hold of one of the other small cubes that were in the crater. I repeated what I had done earlier, and the result was the same.

"_So just placing the cube down reverts the cubes back to their original state? Fascinating. So how did it get in this state?"_

It took me a while before coming up with a solid hypothesis.

"_Maybe if a cube takes enough damage, then it will go to that smaller state."_

I tapped it. Nothing happened.

I slapped it. Same result.

I punched it. Something did change. A few thin lines formed at that point. As I examined it, the lines disappeared, as if they never existed. I then punched the block a few more times. More lines appeared, but they disappeared as time went on. I felt like I was being toyed with.

"_Blocks that can regenerate as time passes? I call hacks on this world!"_

I started punching it again and didn't let up this time. Eventually, the dirt finally gave out and went to its smaller form again. I felt slightly satisfied in forcing it back to that form.

"Yeah, take that, you patch of dirt!" as I picked up the small block.

I then chucked the dirt as far as I could toward one of the trees. In doing so I learned two more things. First: I need to work out more, because it only went about 10 feet. And second: it did not reform on impact.

"_I guess they need to be set in order to take form again."_

I changed my attention and picked up the floating 2D apple that had formed. Nothing really seemed different about in contrast to everything else, besides the obvious. I set on the ground, in the hopes of a giant block forming. When that failed, picked it back and took a bite out of it. Unlike the cube, it did not attempt to "heal" itself. Shame too, since I don't know when food would appear again.

After finishing off the apple, I thought about testing the saplings out, but from the apple test, I think that it would be quite similar to the real world. It gets planted and a tree forms in a couple of years.

With my current curiosities satisfied, I looked at my surroundings once more. Nothing. It's like they all went into hiding when the sun started to come up.

"_Well until Ira gets up, I might as well press life's 'fast forward button'."_ So I decided to sit down and prop myself against one of the trees, putting one hand back on my knife and started to catch a light rest.

**Yeah, I know that this should have been part of the other chapter; but I wanted to post something before my cram session and I knew I was going to be busy over the break. So, sorry for the poor quality on my part.**

**Also, for everyone curious why Ira instead of Blazette; let me explain. Ira is Latin for wrath. Also, with the Nether being like Hell, you could claim that the residents from there are demons. So, the inspiration for the name came from wrath demons. Also, first impressions do count.**


End file.
